A Quandary

Mondays aren't so bad when you are unemployed! Although I did already mess up the one thing I had on my agenda to do today. I was supposed to go in and get my blood test after fasting. Too bad I just breakfasted! I spent half an hour after I woke up farting about throwing things to take to Sydney on my bed and feeling Oh So Organised, got distracted by a phone call afterwhich I headed straight for the kitchen and a bowl of Weetbix (is that like "sheep" where the plural is the same form as the singular? Should it be bowl of Weetbi?). I then came back into my bedroom thought "So what's on the agenda for this morning, why am I up so early??" Oh yeah. I guess that will just have to wait until I get back in 2 weeks time.

Some of you may recall that I spent a bit of time in Japan complaining about being bored at work. Well now I am about to complain about being bored at home! Looking back over events in my life, it is clear that I am simply a much happier, more content person when I am flat chat with things to do and places to be coming out of my ears. So I am trying to get back to that place as soon as possible. If you can believe it I am actually a tad impatient at having 2 weeks out of here in Sydney because it is throwing a spanner in my Find Job and Place To Live plans. Then there is also the slight disruption to progression caused by my indecision over what to do next. I could look for full time work, and just yesterday I found a job that I would actually really love to get which is adding extra stress to the composition of resumes and cover letters. Or I could go back to uni in second semester and do a Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics which would expand my job horizons since it would qualify me to teach English at tertiary level, and perhaps Japanese too. But that would mean returning to my previous miserly student lifestyle where it would be impossible to save any more money for travel after I finish next year. Actually that is the one thing I can say I definitely want to do; travel. I've been looking up places and ways to do volunteer work overseas. It's hardly a display of altruism though; it's all part of a grand plan to learn Spanish and that kind of stuff never looks bad on your resume.

So plenty of options but as yet no "sign". I'm not waiting for the clothes line to be hit by lightning (that's the traditional sign isn't it?), just for the vibe to be right again. I never make big decisions against my gut feeling, but at the moment I don't have a gut feeling. There's no vibe.

Last night I had a very enlightening conversation with someone I haven't spoken to in a very long time. She said a few things that were pertinent to my life both in the way she intended and also in other ways. I took a few things away from it; Don't be bottling things up, better to just share because the response you get can surprise and teach you - plus it saves you worrying about something that doesn't need worrying about anyway! Don't be ashamed of your actions if they are right for you, if others don't understand perhaps they are not people you want in your life. I reckon it's much easier to conceal your feelings than to share them, but the most good comes of sharing them. I'm going to try and be more brave in that respect.

Some shots

Some yesterday and some today.

Flinders Street Station

That's not Melbourne, that's me enroute to Melbourne

Some of the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Rd, the water was so beautiful and down on the sand there was a penguin footprint highway leading up to the rocks. Very cute.

Blue blue is the colour I see...

Melbourne; quite a tops place

Just returned from my trip to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Rd. Weather was wonderful the whole time and the drive was more than pleasant. Stopped at the usual places along the way and took a few snaps. 12 Apostles was really gorgeous but I can't help but notice that there aren't really 12 of them. I counted about 6. I know one of them fell down, but where are the rest? My only complaint would be that they have just turned the viewing area into a bit of an over-developed nice clean walkway. I guess it impresses the internationals, but it was all a bit clinical I thought. I'd much rather just wander down a narrow gravel track like you do at some of the less popular spots. I'll upload some photos when I can find an internet connection up to the task. When I was in Japan I heard some news about Australia's broadband internet being sub-par and you know I am inclined to believe it because everytime I use a computer here it has massive issues doing things like uploading photos and opening blogger that I never had trouble with in Japan. I am used to clicking on a page and being there before I have time to wait, here it is a bit of a patience tester just getting into my hotmail account.

Well, back to Melbourne. Didn't spend too much time there, but did have one whole day. Spent much of it in Brunswick Street actually. Kinda dirty looking street but with heaps of little boutique type shops that you don't see very often in Adelaide with great vintage clothing. Heaps of cosy looking cafes and restaurants. I am a little bit of a fan of a place where you can go in and hide in the corner and people walking past can't just see what you are all up to. The trend these days for cafes seems to be for fishbowl type arrangements where there is no privacy at all. But there seemed to be more of an abundance of cosy little places over there. Had a meal at a fabulous vegetarian place there with a very friendly waitress and some lovely wine (although it was SA wine!). Actually I found the people in Melbourne to be very friendly on the whole. I think I'd like to go back with some more time perhaps and see some of the other streets!

More travelling

Tomorrow I am off to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Rd and very excited about it. Mum told me yesterday that I have been to Melbourne when I was very little. But I have no clear memories of it, only of eating an icecream in the front garden of an elderly relative. I hope to add a few more lasting memories this trip. When i get back I am going to be jumping on a plane to Sydney and spending a couple of weeks hanging out with some old school mates over there. Looking forward to that heaps. But it's not all fun and games, I have been looking in the Careers section and applied for a job at Centrelink! How hilarious would it be if, after all those uni student years of living off of them, I ended up working for them and still getting my income from them. I imagine it's a pretty shitty job, but they pay's not bad, certainly enough for me to save up enough biccies for my European adventure next year. Last week of August, La Tomatina in Spain - if I'm not there I will not be happy.

Korea shots

A policeman adjusts himself. Or maybe he's doing a Michael Jackson impersonation?

My tour group and the spazzo friend who I stayed with. The tour guide NEVER shut up the whole time. Probably it was very interesting except that it was all in Korean and my friend would only translate about 10 seconds worth of talk for every 10 minutes - she said she was cutting out the boring bits...

The cherry blossoms were out already in Korea too, and plenty of other flowers too. I was told the name of the yellow flowers on the left but now I can't remember it, except that if you pronounce it wrong it is a fairly rude insult!

Pedalling about

Yesterday I took my new bike for a spin to my grandparent's house and managed to pick up a rather long nail in my rear tyre. Psssssst... Bugger. Had to grab a lift back in grandpa's car and then sort myself out with a new tube. Today I had a little more luck though and managed to get all the way down to my mate's place just east of the city. We then rode into the Central Markets together where I watched her compete with plenty of other tight arses for the reduced fruit and veg stock! It was quite funny, they just dump all the vegies on the table and people rifle through and pull out what they want, 3 pieces for $2. Bargain! I bought myself some cheese and asparagus, just cos it was cheap. The Central markets are a little bit crazy for me. There are always a million people in there, all pushing their way between the stalls. And I guess when the prices come down people get even pushier.

We cycled back slowly and then I began my return voyage up the hill towards TTG. I am all for cycling around rather than driving, but I don't see how people can do it for fun. I mean, what is fun about cycling up long hills? I hate it. And there are a lot of hills heading towards the hills (funny that). I was cursing the headwind, the slope and any law of physics that dictated it was harder work for me to pedal uphill than down. But I must say that the new bike made it a much pleasanter journey than I would have expected. Being able to change gears was a great start! And I am proud to say that I am yet to fall off my bike after forgetting that my feet are attached to the pedals. What would make it pleasanter still would be drivers realising that a bike lane is for bikes, not their 4WDs. It feels like it's not a matter of if I get knocked off, but when, and how bad it will be...

Use the brakes

Well I was planning on posting a picture of my new bicycle today but the internet has other ideas it seems. It is blue, with silver bits, it's very shiny and the brakes work about 400 times better than on my old bike which resulted in me almost sending myself over the handlebars when I rode to my mum's house just now. I have new shoes, with cleats, all black with some velcro on em too! First pair of shoes with velcro on em. Not sure what the point of the velcro is but it sure is noisy. So that would make my second new pair of shoes in one day since this morning I went into town and found myself some touch footy boots. Bit of a bargain and they feel quite comfy so I'm happy. Let's just hope that my knees can handle the extra pressure!

At the moment in Adelaide there is a bit of what could be called a Public Outcry going on following the unfortunate drownings of a couple of kids in the Torrens River. The similarity between the deaths is that they both were strapped into a 3 wheeled stroller which rolled away from the ADULT in charge of it, into the water and presumably straight to the bottom. Obviously that's pretty shit for the parents of the kid, but I fail to see how their inability to keep an eye on their child has to result in local government spending vast amounts of money on making the river "stroller safe". I also fail to see why that is a reason to avoid purchasing a 3 wheeled stroller. I would say that the problem here is parental inattention. Here's a tip; when you strap your child into a chair on wheels be aware that they may well roll away if you don't keep an eye on factors such as declines towards vast bodies of water. But hey, thank god for those who really do believe that it's not their responsibility to ensure their child's safety cos then where would the editorial section of the 'tiser be?

Title

Thankyou! Yes, a "cleat" is the word I was looking for. Tomorrow I will be in possession of a bicycle and all that entails. Might need to find myself a helmet then.. And some way too tight bike shorts. Is that a requirement?

Today I am perusing the careers section of the newspaper and discovering that finding a job with my name on it is going to be a LOT harder than I initally thought. I will be away next week Tues-Fri and then the week after, but when I get back it's going to be full time Search Mode for me.

Yesterday I saw a film called "Hot Fuzz". It was quite funny, all the more so because I had a somewhat liquid lunch. It wasn't my fault, I was plied with alchohol. True. So far the vegetarian thing is working out really well. I made asparagus and pistachio risotto on Monday night and it was tops. Eating out is easy, although I guess there will be a point at which I become sick of tomato and cheese on a pizza :) I'm gonna try and post up some pictures of Korea again - the broadband internet connection might help me this time...

Some dudes performing a play about things back in the day in Korea...

Some wooden freaks and a non-wooden freak...

Jo goes vego

Monday comes again. Had a bit of a relaxing weekend. Went out on Friday with an old mate and caught up with developments down atGlenelg. Had a fabulous Korma Pie at some gourmet pie shop. Granted I was slightly tipsy at the time and thus my sense of taste was inhibited, but still I say it was a tops feed. It's all looking a bit shiny and new down there now aye! No more Magic Mountain. Well, there are still rides and etc, but it's all jazzed up, no more grey fibreglass rock. And our tram was all shiny and new too! What's happened to Adelaide anyway? There was even some woman announcing the stops over a PA system. Crazy. I tested out my new red shoes with a power walk from Vic Square to the Austral - wouldn't want to do that again, but I did survive without a blister. Copped a bucketload of Aussie Male behaviour, that'll take some getting used to. Sunday arvo had a run about at a touch scratchie in town. Gee, the fields are looking a bit bumpy these days. Probably owing to the lack of water these days I guess. I've only been home a week and a half and I'm already worried about the fact that it hasn't rained yet...

In other news... I am getting a new bicycle! I am tremendously excited about this. An Orbea. Made in Spain - where I'll be sunning myself next year :) Had to order it from Melbourne so haven't got it in my hot little hands yet, but by the end of this week I'll be all set to get around on it. My first time using, what's it called?? The arrangement where the shoe is attached to the pedal.... starts with a C. I have forgotten for now, but I am heaps looking forward to forgetting about them and just falling off my bike because I can't put my foot down at some point. Ha, on Friday my friend asked me if I wanted to go to Perth and ride home from there with her in September. Stupid thing is, it is actually really tempting me - but I hope to have a job by then which would obviously prevent me from doing any such thing. How fun would that be though! Something for later on I reckon.

By the by, have made the decision to go vego finally. Been thinking about it for a while, had some things crop up while I was in Japan that made me think about it some more. Thoughts along the lines of "Gee, dunno if I wanna support the practice of tying an animals mouth shut until we decide we want to eat it" are just the beginning of a slide down a slippery slope into vegetarianism so I thought I'd just whizz down quickly. I work best at doing things cold turkey (although I am no longer allowed to eat that of course).

Kimchi-arama

I was intending to pop up a few picutres that I took in South Korea this morning, but it appears the dial up internet connection isn't up for it. Instead I will just talk about it. I really loved Korea. I went expecting to find that it wasn't all that different from Japan. And at first glance, it really isn't. The first major hurdle for me was remembering that I wasn't in fact in Japan and couldn't simply speak to the people around me. I didn't realise how much I rely on my Japanese skills for travelling in Japan, I would generally just ask for directions rather than sit around with a map trying to figure out where I should go. Because I was speaking to my friend in Japanese the whole time, and obviously everyone around me is still just of Asian appearance, it was a struggle to remember that I couldn't just order food, ask about bus prices etc. in Japanese too! Actually my friend even had the same struggle, especially when we were staying in our hotel (the Kolon Hotel, bit of an odd name I thought!), and it was just full of Japanese tourists anyway.

But scratch the surface a bit and you begin to see the differences between the two cultures. Koreans are not as polite. I don't mean that they are rude, I mean that they are not polite just for the sake of it, even when it's not really necessary. In a Japanese restaurant when a waiter clears your table they are apologising for inconveniencing you constantly. They say shisturei shimasu or shitsurei itashimasu which literally translated means "I'm gonna be rude", but would be interpreted in English as "Pardon me", "I'm very sorry" and any number of extrememly polite expressions like that. Yes, it is nice to have someone acknowledge that they are getting in your way, but frankly it gets a little overdone. Obviously you expect the waiter to clear your table and that they will need to get in your way a bit - I think they are making MORE of a nuisance of themselves by announcing their presence all the time. Plus, a lot of the time they use the very formal language which is not actually an expression of politeness anymore, but just parrot speak. Formal langauge in Japan is used so much in situations where it really isn't necessary that I think it has lost its sincerity. I have spoken to Japanese people about this and they agree that keigo is often misused like that. Anyway, that is a bit of a digression. To get back to the original point; Koreans don't do so much of that over-polite stuff. Being unable to speak Korean it is hard to tell definitely, but they seem to be a people who are much more comfortbale with their own situation in the world. Yes, they enjoy a bit of Western culture and food as much as the Japanese, but it didn't seem as pervasive as it is in Japan. I didn't see a single youth dressed up as a hip hop artist (and thinking that made him one), or gothic Alice in Wonderland.

And, this is a very small thing but I think it's indicative of a wider attitude, the women walk straight. Japanese women, not all, but a lot, have this habit of walking pigeon toed. According to my Japanese source, this looks cute. I think they all look like polio victims, but in some twisted way it is cute over there. Sometime you would see the most beautifully dressed Japanese girl completely ruining her look by dragging her highheels along the ground and knocking her knees together. Korean women aren't as concerned with being cute as Japanese women are and as such they appear stronger - something I obviously admire. I wish I could speak Korean so I could have asked more about this. I know that my Korean friend is a very strong woman, but she is only one of many. Next stop, Korean??

No job, no phone, but plenty of sun!

To answer a query in a comment on the previous post; I drive barefoot. Not a highheel wearer generally so I am not so dedicated as to forgoe road safety for fashion!

Today I went into the Travellex and got some local currency sorted out. Can you believe the exchange rates?? When I was in high school (Ok, that is actually getting to be quite a while ago now, but still) the rate was so good that earning money in Japan and then bringing it home meant a 30% increase on your savings for free! Nowadays I am LOSING money. All the money I saved in Japan is actually worth LESS here now. The rate she offered me originally was 111 yen to the $. That is shit. I said as much and she took pity on me and said since I was exchanging such a lot of money she could do me a "deal". I perked up a bit, and after a bit of keyboard tapping she came up with 108yen/$. Eek, that's quite high still, I clearly looked quite miserable about it (you would too if you were about to lose a large chunk of the money you saved dancing around to the Hello Song 1473 times), so she said "Ok, what would you say is a fair number?". I wasn't expecting to haggle, indeed I never thought that my sighing and reluctant demeanour would get me a discount at all - I really was just grumpy about the whole great Aussie Economic Situation in general! I said that my friend had exchanged some money 2 months earlier at about 1:1. She said that's impossible but offered me the "final deal" of 106! I took it of course because the dollar doesn't look like weakening much before I am going to need this money. How bizarre that they can actaully give you a discount on such things, if they can do it for me, why can't they do it for everyone?? Anyway, now I have Aussie dollars in my bank account rather than Japanese yen stored under my mattress and I feel a bit more financially secure:)

Today I headed out for my first touch footy run about since arriving home. It was beginners training and for some reason I decided to stick myself in the beginners group. I have been away for a year after all... but I haven't forgotten that much so I reckon next week I'll muck around with the rest of the crowd. It is nice to get back out there though. It is a slice of normalcy for my very unstructured life at the moment. Ha, speaking of which; I tried to get a mobile phone contract on the weekend but wasn't allowed to since I am unemployed!! How hilarious. Well, actually, all I need is an income, the bloke told me even if I was on the dole he could have approved me. Might check that out then... Bit ridiculous though since I can very well afford the pissing amount of money a phone is going to cost me per month. But hey, they have just saved me money I guess so i should thank them. And actually, no one can contact me when I am not actually at home and that is kind of nice!

It is still hot and sunny. Tomorrow I am going to play squash :)

Loitering on the edge of idleness

It's clearly quite insane to rave on about the weather when there are plenty more interesting things to comment upon, but I really am enjoying this heat. The weatherman says above 30 all week! I can't believe that it's still this warm. Yesterday I went for a drive up through the Barossa region with a mate. The country really is very dry though, that was a bit shocking. Everything is just brown brown, until you come across a vineyard of course where it is so brilliant green your eyes are shocked by the vibrancy. Had a veggie burger at a pub on the main drag of Tanunda, a bit of a beer and headed back into Adelaide. There is definitely part of this country in my blood, when I see the gum trees, the clear bright blue expanse of sky, it feels like home. Waking up to kookaburras going off their nut on the powerlines and stumbling across lizards and kangaroos on a stroll through the hills behind dad's house... it is all very comfortable. I am still adjusting to the people though. Each person who I met on my walks through the hills has greeted me with a big "G'day!", and a smile. Weird. And in the streets, at the shops, if I smile at someone, they smile back! They don't avert their gaze, they actually engage with me like I am a normal human being. It's lovely.

Today was Tightarse Tuesday at the cinema and I indulged in a foreign film. Buggered if I can recall what it was called now! I will have to look it up and come back and fill it in, I quite enjoyed it. Set a few years before the fall of the Berlin wall. I received way too much chocolate from the Easter Bunny this year. It seems there is a conspiracy afoot to attempt to fatten me up! Although given my well known love of the brown stuff it's hardly surprising that at Easter I should be singled out for a lot of chocolate love. Slightly relieved that the long weekend is over though because there are things I need to do at the shops and banks etc. Tomorrow I start the dreaded task of pulling my boxes out of the cellar at dad's and sorting out all the shit I put in there a year ago with a more critical eye for what is Necessary and what is Not. I suspect rather a lot of it may fall into the latter category. The trouble is that the boxes have been sitting in spider territory for a good 12 months. I am not a fan of spiders. They are small and sneaky with a predilection for jumping out at inconvenient times. I am certain that my belongings are now ridden with them. Having spent a spider-free year in Japan my heart is ill prepared to deal with the creepy bastards. But my hair cannot continue in this Frodo-style fashion forever, I must find my hairdryer! But tomorrow, now I must eat an easter bunny and vegetate.

It's warm!

How lovely is the Adelaide weather! It has been lovely beyond description to get up in the morning and be able to feel my toes despite an absence of socks. And wearing just one layer of clothing rather than three... also tops. Well, I was always going to be impressed by the warmer weather, what else has impressed me upon my return home? First; Australians are very courteous. Well, at least the ones who I encountered during my epic journey home were. I was attempting to make phone calls to people who were waiting at Adelaide airport for me on Thursday morning when I was in fact in Sydney and waiting for a man to finish using the public phone when an amazing thing happened to me. He saw me waiting and actually hurried up and finished his call quickly so I could go next! How nice is that? In the plane the woman sitting next to me brushed me with her bag when hoisting it onto her shoulder and turned around and apologised! A man stepped on my foot and was very concerned about it! I couldn't believe it. I had become so accustomed to people simply pushing past me rather than saying "excuse me" and just knocking me about without apology that I was astonished by these simple manners.

Second thing to spring to my attention; Australia are very fat people. Seriously, I know this gets a lot of media attention and is not a revelation, but it is seriously disturbing me. And what are all these fat people doing? Lining up at Burger King for more shit food. They are about to get on a plane where, unless they have discovered an area of the plane I have never, they will be sitting on their arses doing nothing for several hours, and they are stuffing their faces with calories.

Third item; The men. They look at the women. They don't just take sidelong glances when they think the women can't see them, they hold their gaze even when you look right back at them. What am I supposed to say here? Am I supposed to say that I find it offensive because I am being observed at face value, as a "piece of meat"? Some part of me flickers over these quite valid points, but a larger part of me just feels quite happy to be getting some attention for once! Oh isn't it terrible, after all those years of trying to prevent men wolf whistling at women, now I am saying that I don't actually mind quite so much! But yes, if I make an effort to look nice, and I get admiration for doing so, it's certainly not a bad thing. For 12 months I have been in something of a flirt-free zone, I never realised how much I missed it!

There are many many other things that strike me as strange here, but they are slowly losing their oddity and becoming normal again. I am losing my compunction to speak japanese randomly and I have been SHOPPING. Yesterday I went down to the Mall and found myself some gorgeous high high high red red red shoes. They were completely inappropriate for the party I went to last night, but I had to wear them simply because I haven't been dressed up properly with lovely clothes, shoes for a year and I needed to. :) There are sides to me that never really got a chance to get out and about in Japan, and the delight in dressing up nice is certainly one of them. I am all for practical clothing when it's necessary, which is most of the time I believe (i will never be going to the supermarket in a mini skirt and high heels), but there is much to be said for making oneself gorgeous of an evening, something I intend to spend a lot more time doing from here on out.

A new start needs a new blog

I am back in my home town, very happy to be here - although a little overwhelmed by it all. Since there are a few people not in Adelaide who have taken to reading my blog regularly (perhaps because they have no life, or enjoy reading about those who have no lives) I have decided to continue the tradition of committing the banal events of my life to paper, err, computer screen. To which end I recount part of my journey home for you here;
http://www.joteachesandstuff.blogspot.com